Atmosphere Is What Got Me To Go To Guelph

The Gryphons’ Homecoming Game could be an emotional one for fifth-year receiver A’dre Fraser.Saturday’s game will it be his final Homecoming Game as a Gryphon player.“That’s starting to sink in,” he said following a practice this week. “We’ve had some alumni come through and talk to us. They’re just making me realize that this is kind of the last final go at it. I’m just soaking it all in and hoping to have a good time on Saturday.”Homecoming Games are special as it’s guaranteed to be a large, vocal crowd. The game usually sells out shortly after tickets go on sale. It’s also a great recruiting tool, as the players that the Gryphs hope will be wearing their uniform in the future find out at Saturday’s game.“The atmosphere is kind of what got me to go to Guelph,” Fraser said. “When I was being recruited, I came to a Homecoming Game and I loved the atmosphere. It’s phenomenal. You can tell that the players feed off it.”The game will also be Fraser’s first home game as he missed the previous two waiting to be deemed academically eligible. He took courses in the summer to keep his eligibility, but had to wait for those marks to be registered.“It’s pretty tough to watch all my brothers go out there and play and me not being physically able to be out there and support them,” Fraser said. “I was there on the sidelines and I was helping out what I could — doing the mental things, the little things. (I was) making sure everyone else was staying on track because I had to take care of myself and I had to take care of those guys.”Fraser returned to the Gryphon active roster in last week’s overtime loss to the Ottawa Gee-Gees at Ottawa and had a big game. He was named the team’s offensive player of the week after catching 12 passes for 98 yards.“It was nice to be back,” he said. “Obviously, I would have loved to have gotten the win there, but we did some good things on O. We took Ottawa, who was supposed to be the best team in the OUA, we took them into double overtime. There weren’t really any negatives coming out beside not getting the result we wanted.”The performance raised Fraser’s career totals to 97 catches for 1,512 yards and 10 touchdowns in regular-season games. He’s also caught 29 passes for 328 yards in the playoffs.The loss to Ottawa evened Guelph’s record at 2-2, but the team has already forgotten about it. The Gryphs don’t dwell on the past.“We put the game behind us,” Fraser said. “Whether it’s a win or a loss, we put it behind us because we’ve got to get ready for the next week.”Last May Fraser was selected in the sixth round (47th overall) of the CFL draft by the Montreal Alouettes and he attended their training camp.“That was good,” he said. “It was nice to be out there with the staff and play with some professionals and see the level of competition that was up there. It was great. It showed me where I needed to be and where I want to be and I’m excited to hopefully have another chance to go there.”Fraser did play in a pre-season game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and made a couple of tackles on special teams and the experience with the Alouettes showed Fraser what he needed to work on if he wants to pursue a professional career in the sport.“I’ve just got to master my craft,” he said. “Each receiver kind of has their own thing and I feel like I just need to get better at what I do and be at the top of my game.”Game time Saturday at Alumni Stadium is 1 p.m. Thanks